Sean Antoine, 28, was convicted in April of killing 14-year-old Kitty Pepe of Keene, New York. The Tobago man was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of the American teenager in Charlotteville on July 1, 2005.
Sean and Pepe had previously “dated” but had broken up before he repeatedly stabbed her in 2005, at the Charlotteville home she was staying with her mother. The girl’s family previously said they were hoping Antoine would be sentenced to life in prison because of the violence of the attack.
Justice Geoffrey Henderson of the Tobago High Court said, “Antoine did not deserve the lesser charge of manslaughter and the sentence was intended to send a message that it was inappropriate for men to be involved with underage girls.”
Antoine’s attorney, Wayne Sturge, said after the hearing that, he considered the sentence reasonable and did not plan to appeal. Under Trinidad and Tobago laws, his client will only have to serve about 14 years of the sentence. Antoine would serve 19 years out of the 25 years sentenced, due to him already serving six years in jail waiting trial.
Kitty was a student of the Speyside High School at the time of her death. She had visited the island occasionally since 1997 while her mother worked on sea turtle conservation efforts in Tobago, which had long been considered peaceful but has been shaken by a number of violent attacks on foreigners in recent years.
MY TWO CENTS: A 28 YEAR OLD MAN WHO HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH A 14 YEAR OLD GIRL THAT STABS HER TO DEATH SHOULD GET LIFE OR THE DEATH SENTENCE.
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